#BookReview – Jackson (Wild Boys After Dark #3) by Melissa Foster

The blurb reads,

“Receiving a marriage proposal is supposed to make a women happy, but when Erica Lane receives a beautiful marriage proposal from her perfect boyfriend on the eve of her annual camping trip with her best friend, Jackson Wild, the first thing she does is jump into bed with Jackson.

Jackson’s all too happy to screw the annoyance out of Erica. After all, they’ve always screwed the hell out of each other when they were bored or angry, lonely, or too damn drunk to see straight.

But the marriage proposal changes everything, and their annual camping trip takes unexpected turns. Will a few nights in the wilderness set these friends with benefits free, or lead them on a path of destruction?”

So right, I did sign up to receive Jackson’s ARC after I read Heath and Logan.

Read my review of Heath and Logan here!

After a very disappointing read in Heath, I still dug into Jackson thinking it would be something different as compared to the others.

And to an extent I wasn’t disappointed. Jackson did have a different story, just not unique enough. I mean reading about a guy realising his love for his best friend after she is proposed to is oft repeated in both film and book. Made of Honor, Patrick Dempsey anyone?

And this book here is nothing NEW. It is the same old formula, wrapped in oodles of sex. And I mean oodles. Erica and Jackson have sex. All the time. Whenever they are angry, whenever they are frustrated.

But somehow they never realised how much they needed each other before Erica was proposed to by her boyfriend.

I’m a little unsure of how I would take this, a boyfriend being comfortable with his girlfriend having open sexual relations with another guy. Most guys I know would not be comfortable with it, but then if a guy is, however unbelievable it may be, it does show that he is mature enough to let the lady go, only to have her come back.

Jackson and Erica realise their love for each other when they go camping and are caught in a storm. And that tragedy striking is enough to make Jackson realise that he has always wanted his Laney. And for Erica to realise that she looked for Jackson in every man she dated.

And while that realisation is sweet, and touching, the book sort of distracts you with all the sex that is in it.

 

I read this book a while back and what I do remember from it is just the sex. And the very little recollection they have of how their lives are incomplete without each other.

I think I’m going to stay off these books which prefer to make it Dark at the cost of the series. I don’t remember why I gave this book a 4 star on Goodreads but I’ve downgraded it to a 3 since then.

And a 3 star simply because the sex was great! Much as I didn’t like it taking the place of a good story, it did have some sense to it. And I did like Jackson being told off by his brothers and Jackson’s personal story.

Atleast this book told me about the characters. It told me little about their dependencies on each other. About their history with each other. And while I may be miffed about their story being too sex oriented, I can’t discount that their angst was real. That there was so much hesitation at this feeling of letting go and committing.

I hope Cooper’s story is a good one. I missed out on the ARC, but let’s hope I can get to it sometime in the future.

My Rating: 3/5

#So-So : Heath (Wild Boys#2) by Melissa Foster

The blurb reads,

“No last names. No strings. No ties.
Except of the silk variety.

Dr. Heath Wild and Allyson Jenner only wanted a simple tryst. But Heath couldn’t live with just one night, just one taste, of Ally—and Ally couldn’t escape the memory of his hands on her skin, the way he looked at her like she was his obsession, or his seduction, which had pushed her to the edge and had made her want to do things she never had before.

One night leads to one tantalizing phone call. Can one phone call lead to forever?”

So I am here taking a bit of a risk, writing such a bland review for such a popular author’s book. But I really can’t help it, there were deficiencies in the book that I just could not ignore.

Heath is the second brother to be written about in the Wild Boys After Dark series.

I was completely taken over by Logan. Read my review for it here!

And then I wanted to devour on the other brothers and their tales. Heath starts off great, steamy and sexy. And believe me, the book is filled with sex scenes. So much so, that someone can enjoy a session, reading it with their special one because it will leave you feeling turned on and wanting to do something more.

I like that Melissa constructs stories around large families with each member spanning a book. It gives the reader a lot more interaction with a particular character.

I absolutely loved Logan. And the story was fast paced too. So I had to request for stories of the other Wild Boys. And the second book in the series is Heath.

To be very fair, I shouldn’t have expected Heath’s story to be something similar to Logan’s but then I did expect a lot more than what I got. I got a lot of sex, barely any interaction with the characters or who they were as persons and also the whole story.

I found it defective that this book did not focus on Heath or Ally. You ended up knowing about Heath because you read Logan and knew where he came from. I didn’t know who Heath was as a person, what made him choose his profession, what characteristics described him and what his dreams were. These were more transparent in Logan. And i loved Logan for that.

This book was a bit of a let down that way. It’s singular focus on how Heath and Ally fell in love felt good to read but it didn’t give me that story I look for in a Romance. Sure Ally and Heath felt for each other and found that they loved each others company. But there wasn’t anything beyond that. Which is why my ire.

I looooved the sex scenes!! They were absolutely HOT! SMOKIN HOT! And seeing how Ally and Heath fell in love was great and it reminded me of how love tended to open all your boundaries and how letting a person inside somehow made you feel more complete.

I was so glad Ally was smart. I’m tired of heroines being Damsels in Distress. I mean they do need to have some spine and Ally sure did.

I loved how Ally seemed to integrate into Heath’s life. It is something every woman aspires to do and she was great.

I just wish the book focused on the characters rather than their story. It would have earned me a full 5 stars. I’m disappointed that the book made its sole focus SEX. I would have thought that Melissa would have described the character but then, I’m wary of her books now, if these are the sort of books that come up, I don’t want to be invested in series where I only read about two people having sex with each other.

Let’s hope Jackson and Cooper live up to the high bar that Logan set.

 

My Rating: 2.5/5

#BookReview- Logan (Wild Boys After Dark #1) by Melissa Foster

The blurb reads,

“Stella “Stormy” Knight is an expert at hiding—her feelings, her past, and her identity. Sometimes all that hiding takes its toll, and she needs to come out from under that heavy suit of armor and cut loose—but it never takes her long to put it right back on and disappear without a trace.

Private Investigator Logan Wild is relentless in his pursuit to discover the truth for his clients. He works hard, plays even harder, and always walks away unscathed and untethered. Until he meets mysterious and sexy-as-hell Stormy, who leaves him craving more than a one-night stand.

Passion ignites, secrets are shared, and their deep connection is impossible to ignore. But in order to have a future, Logan must uncover Stormy’s dark past—and when he does, he’ll hold her fate in his hands.”

 

So, I got a chance to join Melissa Foster’s Street Team on Facebook, as a result of me being a part of Novel Publicity’s awesome team! And I have never read Melissa Foster before.

I’ve been wary about reading a lot of Indie fiction, especially in the Romance genre because, well, it can be filled with a lot of swear words and have a lot of meaningless sex, without a story involved. And some reviews for highly rated authors makes me really wonder whether the really popular authors have what it takes to do a good job, or do we just blindly drink in everything they write.

It is with this intention that I decided to apply for Melissa Foster’s ARC program. And I received a copy of Logan.

At the outset, let me make this clear, my expectations of the book were ZERO. I didn’t expect it to be good. I’m a skeptical Romance reader, and I have this blog so that I can read all different types of Romance and let go of all these biases I may have.

Right! So back to Logan.

The story seemed pretty cliche. Damsel in Distress. Hot Guy. Meet Cute. Sudden Falling in Love. And Staying in Love.

To that extent, the book did not disappoint. It stuck to the cliche with panache. Every item that I mentioned up was a part of the story.

But... (there’s always one somewhere)

But, I felt something for Stella. I could feel her apprehensions. I could feel the closet she had pushed herself into. I could feel the pain she felt and the restlessness that came with being in a situation with no way out.

And I fell a little for Logan. Him being there for Stella, the way he did, softened my stance a little. I felt all my judgemental thoughts flow away, and I enjoyed the story more for what it was.

The language was not altogether that great, but it did succeed in creating that magical world for me, the one I was looking for. The one where a Prince Charming comes and waves his sword about, and all problems seem to recede.

I suppose that is the point of a good book. It makes you forget your problems and your life, even for a short while. And in that short while, it feels like the book helped you rest. And dream. Of a better future.

There were a few sentences written really poorly, which did make me want to rebuke the author harshly. But there weren’t too many of such instances, and I am letting it slide, because, I did enjoy the book, albeit a shade less.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I love these books where each book focuses on one family member. It is nice to know an entire family in such a way.

My Rating:4/5